The talk test.....

"Everybody's thought that the Talk Test related well to the ventilatory threshold," Quinn says. "And it does, to a certain degree. But different physiological phenomena occur at each threshold, and it is the phenomena associated with the lactate threshold that relate better to the different levels of the Talk Test."

Quinn says these findings on the relationship of the Talk Test to the lactate threshold make the Talk Test relevant to endurance athletes as well as beginning exercisers. "In order to enhance endurance performance, some training has to occur around the lactate threshold intensity level. When subjects in the study had difficulty talking, they were very close to that lactate threshold intensity. Because of this, athletes could gauge their intensity based on ability to talk comfortably."

"If you are beginning an exercise program and can still talk while you're exercising, you're doing OK," Quinn says. "But if you really want to improve, you've got to push a little bit harder."

Perception of effort is a funny thing, you have to train yourself to be able to try hard in the first place. I've been training some young cyclists and at the beginning of the season they couldn't keep up with me (52 years old) over a 40 minute threshold interval. Now that they've got used to it, it's me who can't keep up! They've gained some more power for sure, but not that much, they've just learned how to make it hurt.

I've used the talk test ever since I started training. One client said, when I asked if he could complete a sentence, said, "Jesus wept." As he was just about to fall off the bike at almost maximum effort.